The King of Black and White. Review on Vishwanathan Anand

The year is 1987.This young whiz kid is traveling in a train. A co-passenger quite aged greets him and asks, ” What do you do for living. Are you studying?”

Vishy replies, ” No, I play chess.”

Well then you must know Vishwanathan Anand who is making waves in world wide chess Circuit. You should come up like him. The poor passenger did not know that he was talking to Vishy himself.

Vishwanathan Anand had in fact become the Youngest Grandmaster in the world that year and did win the World Junior title, the first for any Asian.

Twenty years later, the country is mourning the death of Cricket in this country. The Media is talking of spat between Coach and the senior Indian Cricket players. The world’s richest Cricket body is talking of bringing back life(& Money) in the religious game called Cricket.

Another man as humble and as nice a man the Universe has seen has silently conquered the world. He is the most loved Chess player in the world and least appreciated sportsman of this Country.

On April 1st, Vishwanathan Anand has been crowned the World’s No 1 player in Chess, an achievement which can be termed equal to Brazil winning Football World Cup because Chess is played in more than 150 Countries with more than 4, 00, 000 registered players in FIDE. The crowning glory for Vishy has come after being in the top 3 bracket for 15 years which is an unprecedented record for any sports personality. It is indeed such a joyous moment for all Indians also because he has won the prestigious Linares Tournament on the way to World No 1.Anand fittingly dedicated the title to his Spanish friend Neeves(She is no more) who was indeed his best fan and the reason for his second home in Spain.

Not merely can you call him the King of the world just because he is King of 64 squares. It is because anyone who conquers the mind to such levels has attributes to be the King of the world. The gift that Vishy possesses is his lightning speed of thought process which is unmatched in the Chess fraternity. He has been undisputed Champion all along from the age of 15 in Rapid Chess and Blindfold chess. Anand still claims that his best moves are the ones which come to him fast.

The turning point in Anand’s glorious career studded with jewels of Chess tournaments was the title clash with the World’s greatest ever Chess player Gary Kasparov in New York. After eight consecutive draws, Anand beat the world champion. Kasparov had the last laugh and made Anand to realize what it makes to become a champion.

Anand has grown in leaps and bounds as Champion since then and reached his peak when he became world chess champion in 2000. His best performances have been in Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk Aan Zee & the Mainz Classic along with the world rapid titles. Anand has also won the Chess Oscar for 4 years which is the highest award given to a chess player. The prestigious Linares Tournament has always been eluding him. Many thought Vishy was on the decline after the Dortmund 2001, but he has sustained high level of consistency and unmatched dignity in the game born in India and ruled by the ruthless Russians.

Tracking Anand’s phenomenal top position in the last 20 years makes it all the more joyful for me considering the fact that his Counterparts who grew with him like Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Kamsky, Kramnik and Short could not sustain the same level which calls for great levels of mental energies sustained for so long.

*A Silent revolution in India

Anand has ushered in a silent revolution which we Indians normally do not magnify, in the form of a huge fraternity of chess following kids in the States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi & Bengal where more than 1 lakh kids have taken to professional chess and registered in major tournaments. Every Parent is seeing a Vishy in their kid. Vishy’s mother was instrumental in his growth during childhood(It’s in all Mothers as Shanti puts it)

The result is such lovely chess players logging the limelight-

Koneru Humpy-World No 2, Women’s chess

Krishnan Shashikiran-World No 25

Harikrishna-World No 57

Young whiz kids-Parimanjan, Srinath & Sethuraman.

It is expected that in 3 years time, India will have 10 players in the top 100 rankings which makes it a high ranking sport for us to look at.

I asked many sports enthusiasts who the richest sports person in India was in terms of prize money and they inevitably come out with Sachin. In fact Anand tops the list closely followed by Jeev as well. Who says all the money is in Cricket. It’s a mind thing you see, to understand that Chess fetches more than Cricket and has more follower Countries in the world. Vishy is the only Indian Sportsman to have traveled 42 Countries in the world for playing Chess.

So Chatrang Ka Khiladi is definitely a Duniya Ka Khiladi. So Khelo India, our Games bhi Khelo.

Anand’s golden words for Young people, ” I enjoy what I do. I am just a normal guy found that he had a talent in chess and enjoyed getting to the top. “

This is a great reflection for young people to emulate-BE NORMAL AND THINK BIG.

Let us celebrate the great moment of glory as Indians and forget that Cricket is played by Politicians in our Country these days.

Three cheers for One in Million because Chess is played professionally by a Million in the world if not followed by this Blue Billion.

Thanks for reading.